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Daily Business Report — Oct. 20, 2011

NASSCO Receives $37 Million Navy Contract

NASSCO has been awarded a $37 million contract by the U.S. Navy for the fitting-out availability of the San Antonio-class amphibious assault dock ship USS San Diego. Work under the contract will be performed at NASSCO beginning in May 2012 and is expected to be completed by December 2014. Work for the USS San Diego under the contract include program management, planning, engineering, design, liaison, scheduling, labor and procurement of incidental material. On board repair efforts will include piping, structural and machinery work. The contract award also includes options which, if exercised, would bring the total value of the contract to about $134 million. Built in Pascagoula, Miss., the 684-foot long ship completed sea trials off the Gulf Coast on Oct. 1. The tests assessed the ship’s defensive, communications, propulsion and other auxiliary systems. The USS San Diego is designed to deliver a Marine battalion of 699 officers and enlisted men fully equipped for a variety of expeditionary warfare missions.

San Diego’s Office Market Improving

San Diego’s office market continued to slowly improve during the third quarter, largely a result of the 12,000 jobs created regionally year-to-date, according to a report by Grubb & Ellis. With the lack of spaces available for sizes 20,000 square feet and larger, big-block occupants may see an increase in rental rates prior to the rest of the market, the report said. An increase in rental rates for Class A space is expected to occur prior to that of Class B space because of the extensive flight to quality seen by tenants. “Conditions will likely remain advantageous for tenants until vacancy decreases and landlords regain leverage,” said the report. “New speculative construction should require significant tenant commitments prior to breaking ground.”

Report highlights:

• The San Diego area office market vacancy rate declined to 17 percent during the third quarter, down 40 basis points from the second quarter.

• Vacancy in the central business district decreased to 17.9 percent, down 60 basis points from the previous quarter.

• The office market experienced nearly 232,000 square feet of positive net absorption during the third quarter, bringing the year-to-date absorption total to 714,000 square feet.

• The UTC submarket led in positive net absorption with a quarterly gain of 76,000 square feet. The Rancho Bernardo, Scripps Ranch and Sorrento Mesa/Valley submarkets each posted approximately 42,000 square feet of positive net absorption.

• Approximately 1.3 million square feet of sublease space was available at the close of the third quarter, a reduction of 62,200 square feet from the second quarter.

• One project was under construction at the close of the third quarter, a 123,000-square-foot building at Illumina Inc.’s campus at 5200 Research Place in the UTC submarket. The life science company will occupy the full building upon its scheduled completion in 2013.

• The first lease of more than 45,000 square feet took place in the third quarter when TD Ameritrade leased 111,318 square feet of space at 5010 Wateridge Vista Drive in Sorrento Mesa. Occupancy is scheduled for 2012.

Airport Authority President Gets National Post

Bowens

The woman who heads the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority has been named chair of the Airports Council International-North America board of directors. Thella F. Bowens, the president and CEO of the Authority, was formally given the gavel during the ACI-NA’s annual conference at the San Diego Convention Center. ACI-NA represents 185 governing bodies in the U.S. and Canada that own and operate 300 airports in North America.

In her role as ACI-NA Chair, Bowens will lead the organization as it advocates for its member airports before government, industry and the public. Prior to taking on the association’s primary leadership role, Bowens served three three-year terms on the Board of ACI-NA. Her term as chair is one year. She has been president and CEO of the Authority since 2003. Prior to 2003, when the San Diego Unified Port District operated San Diego International Airport, Bowens was the Port’s senior director of aviation for seven years. Prior to coming to San Diego, Bowens served as the deputy executive director of Kansas City’s Aviation Department.

Chula Vistan Appointed to California Veterans Board

John Farrell, 71, a resident of the Veterans Home of California in Chula Vista, has been appointed to the California Veterans Board by Gov. Brown. Farrell was a private practice attorney from 1983 to 2004. He was a partner at Exarhos and Farrell from 1975 to 1983 and an associate attorney at Milch Wolfsheimer and Wagner from 1974 to 1975. He was a sales manager from 1963 to 1973 and lab technician from 1957 to 1960 at Thompson Photo Service. He was a specialist fifth class in the Army, serving as a public information officer from 1960 to 1963. The position requires Senate confirmation and compensation is $100 per diem. Farrell is a Democrat.

Small Business Workshops

SCORE San Diego continues its series of small business workshops. For more information, call (619) 557-7272 or visit score-sandiego.org.

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Voice Your Opinion

We Want Your Opinions on San Diego’s Big Issues
In the coming months, Probosky Research (one of California’s leading opinion research firms) will continue its partnership with SD METRO to survey San Diego residents about topics of interest to our readers. We’d like to throw open the door for suggestions for topics. What do you want to know? What do you think you know, but aren’t sure? What are you certain you know, but want to prove it beyond doubt? Ideally, we’d like to see questions that have to do with public policy.
Some areas may include Mayor Filner’s first 100 days job performance, should the city be responsible for economic growth and the creation of new jobs, how important are infrastructure improvements to our daily lives (streets and bridges, etc.), how important is water independence, how satisfied are residents with public transit or how do city residents value Balboa Park and other open spaces? Do you believe the City Council should revive the Plaza de Panama plan for Balboa Park?
You can email Probolsky Research directly with your ideas: info@probolskyresearch.com